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<title>The Aftermath Of Caring by were_just_the_noise_boys</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24534283">The Aftermath Of Caring</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/were_just_the_noise_boys/pseuds/were_just_the_noise_boys'>were_just_the_noise_boys</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Never Bloom Again offshoot ficlets [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>My Chemical Romance, Waterparks (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, Men Crying, Sibling Bonding, Teacher Gerard Way, Teacher Mikey Way, They/Them Pronouns for Gerard Way</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:13:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,022</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24534283</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/were_just_the_noise_boys/pseuds/were_just_the_noise_boys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikey, during the hour after Awsten's attempt. </p><p>Companion ficlet to Never Bloom Again</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gerard Way &amp; Mikey Way</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Never Bloom Again offshoot ficlets [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1773145</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Aftermath Of Caring</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I've been asked to post the oneshots that I post to NBA's tumblr blog (@neverbloomagain-fic) on ao3. </p><p>I'm going to post some of the longer and/or better ones into this series. If you're here and haven't read Never Bloom Again, these are going to make varying amounts of no sense to you. But if you want to stick around, you're welcome to. </p><p>Enjoy</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Mikey didn’t go back to his class after Geoff and his soulmate left. He felt like he might die if he had to pretend like everything was okay and go about his business like normal. Teaching was one of the biggest joys of his life, but Lord were his students exhausting sometimes. And he was already tired enough. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He worked with high schoolers. He knew that one of the cardinal rules of interacting with metally ill people was to not blame yourself for their actions. But this time, maybe it really WAS Mikey’s fault. Maybe if he’d pushed Awsten to talk to him just a little bit harder, he would have confessed about all of this and Mikey could have helped him. Maybe if he’d been a better teacher, Awsten wouldn’t be in that ambulance right now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Heaving a sigh, Mikey let himself fall back in his chair as he scrubbed his hands over his face, pushing his glasses up onto his forehead. He wasn’t crying, but his throat was tight and his eyes were prickly. He half-coughed in an attempt to dislodge some of the tension. It didn’t work. So he just sat there, staring blankly at his office wall, indulging in despondent thoughts about where he had gone wrong.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the final bell rang, he came out of his daze with a start. Was it really already time to go home? It felt simultaneously like it had been whole hours and mere minutes since Geoff had walked back into the classroom, all numb and glazed over, bearing the news of what Awsten had done. Mikey groaned quietly into the empty room. He didn’t have therapy for another four days, and he REALLY needed to process with someone. Not nearly as bad as poor Geoff probably needed to, but at least the teenager had his boyfriend to talk with. Kristin was out of town for the next week and a half visiting family, leaving Mikey alone in the house. She traveled often, and he was normally fine with the arrangement, being the introvert he was. But today, he didn’t want to be by himself. He waited until the thundering of students rushing to get home had dissipated in the hallway, before finally standing up and making to exit the room. This wasn’t the first time that he’d been thankful that his sibling worked in the same building as him, and he was sure that it wouldn’t be the last. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The outside of Gerard’s door looked very similar to the inside of Mikey’s own office, covered in non-school-related posters and quotes. He had scarcely lifted his hand to knock before the door was pulled open from the inside, and he was dragged by the arm into the room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you okay? Is the kid gonna be alright? What happened?” Mikey was bombarded with questions so quickly that he was left blinking. The other person didn’t wait for an answer, though, just pulling him into a hug. It took him a moment to hug back, but once he did, it was game over. The tears in his eyes finally overflowed onto his cheeks, and his back shook as they flowed down. His sibling just held him, rocking gently back and forth as they stood there, in the middle of the classroom. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It felt like forever but was probably only actually a few minutes before they pulled apart. Mikey pulled off his glasses to swipe his sleeve over his eyes and nose, putting them back on and meeting Gerard’s concerned gaze.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks,” Mikey mumbled, taking a grounding breath. The eldest nodded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anytime, man.” They stared at Mikey in a way that was calculating, but not cold, before repeating what they’d said when he’d first come in. “Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be alright, I guess,” Mikey offered slowly. “I just feel really shitty about it all. Awsten’s one of my favorites, you know? He’s a really bright kid, but he gets bullied a lot and I’m ninety nine percent sure that he’s getting abused at home. He doesn’t eat, either, and I have some….. suspicions about self harm.” He paused. “How did you know? About what happened I mean.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The kid that found him started screaming for help from the bathroom. I was one of the first ones on the scene, just because my classroom is right there, ya’know?” they answered, sitting down in a random chair in the middle of the classroom. Mikey followed suit, perching heavily on one of the black art tables. “And you’re right.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘Bout what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The poor kid- Awsten?- had all sortsa scars on the bit of his arm that I could see.” Mikey inhaled audibly before letting his head fall forwards for a few seconds. He looked like he was about to say something, but was holding back for whatever reason. “Yes?” Gerard prompted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, but, like. What did you, ya’know, see? In the bathroom? Like, what happened?” Mikey choked out quickly, staring down at his hands. “I just want to understand what Geoff had to see when he walked in. I feel so, so terrible for sending another goddamn student after him, instead of just going myself. I wouldn’t be surprised if Geoff developed some form of PTSD after this, and it’s my fault. I just want to understand.” Gerard placed a hand on Mikey’s knee.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mike, it isn’t your fault. There’s no way that you could have known what happened with Awsten. It’s terrible that the other student had to see, but wouldn’t you rather that than no one have gone after him at all? The doctors are probably going to be able to save his life because someone found him in time. It isn’t your fault, okay?” Mikey didn’t move or speak. Gerard gave him a moment before resuming. “Micheal. Look at me. It isn’t your fault. Okay?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...Okay.” Mikey’s voice cracked as he said it, but it didn’t matter. Their second hug was awkward and physically uncomfortable, just because of how their bodies were positioned, but it didn’t matter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mikey took the next day off. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>please leave a comment!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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